Aakash 4 Tablet Computer To Be Priced At 3,999

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal said low-cost tablet PC Aakash 4 will be available in the market in around one and a half months for Rs 3,999. He added the directorate general of supplies and disposals (DGSD) has already floated the tenders for the tablet.

The tablet comes with a 7-inch scratch resistant capacitative touchscreen, Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity, 4GB internal storage, external memory card slot with storage capacity of up to 32 GB, front camera, etc. The Aakash project was Sibal's brainchild when he was the HRD minister.

The idea was to provide low-cost computing device at subsidised rate to students to enable them access Internet for educational purposes.

He also said the government will soon move ahead on the proposal of merging state-run BSNL and MTNL. The merger of the companies is part of DoT's plan for the revival of the public sector telecom units.

The government has already decided on pension issues plaguing both the public sector units along with refund for wireless broadband spectrum worth more than Rs 11,000 crore to MTNL and BSNL.

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Aakash 4 To Offer Nexus 7 Specs At 3000

The next version of the Aakash tablet, called as Aakash 4, will come with bumped up specs that are close to Google’s Nexus 7. According to the specifications released by the department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) on Monday, the device will also support calls and 4G services.

The specs also suggest that the new tablet will be an improvement over the Aakash 3, based on the Datawind UbiSlate 7C+. The device has 7 inch display LCD display with 800 x 480 pixels resolution. It comes with 1 GB RAM, and 4 GB internal memory that can be extended up to 32 GB via microSD card. It will have dual-bootable operating systems, Android Jelly Bean along with Ubuntu distro. The tablet will support internet connectivity via SIM, WiFi and 2G, 3G, or 4G internet dongle and also support external keyboard and mouse. When it comes to battery the device is said to support at least 3 hours of online 720p video playback.  

In terms of CPU performance, Aaksh 4 will have a minimum of 3537 Antutu Benchmark score and it is comparable to Google Nexus 7, which has a score of 3679, according to Arun Prabhudesai from trak.in. The Antutu Benchmark is an application that gauges the speed and performance of Android based mobile devices.

Aakash 4 is to cost around Rs 3,000, according to HRD ministry officials.

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Aakash 4 To Have Calling Facility, 4G Support

The next model of low-cost tablet under Aakash project will possess calling facility and high speed 4G services support, as per specifications released by government.

The specifications released by government suggest it will have "Driver for Phone Functionality with external dongle" and support "Data functionality with external 2G or 3G or 4G dongle".

The Aakash project was Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal's brainchild when he was the HRD Minister. The idea is to provide low-cost computing device at subsidised rate to students so that they can access Internet for educational purposes.

The first version of the tablet was launched on October 5, 2011. The tablet PC then launched had basic feature and costed government around Rs 2,276. Government later upgraded the tablet with some advance features at the same price.

The latest version will have multiple new features but the final price of the tablet has not been disclosed. The new version of the tablet will have Bluetooth in-built which was missing in the previous versions.

Sen said that the scheme is valid for users of other branded Smartphones but the discount in that case will be on the discretion of retailer.

"Our retailers will estimate the resale value of the phone brought for exchange and accordingly offer discount," Sen said.

The scheme is available across 1,400 outlets in 17 cities including four metros, National Capital Region, Lucknow, Bangalore, Baroda and Chandigarh.

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